Analysis: Fans for Argentina in Brazil are divided into against, in favor and Messi

For the fearless Brazilians who continue to follow the Cup, even with Tite’s team absent since the quarterfinals, all that remains is to root for… Argentina, but for or against?

A superficially meticulous investigation through the confines of social networks shows that this crowd related to the brothers is divided into three groups: the group in favor, which embraced the alviceleste; the one against, always against; and a third group, derived from the second, formed by people who root against Argentina, but in favor of Messi.

Yes, even that little shirt number 10 achieved, the feat of sharing the dryers.

The first group, not necessarily the best, also has Messi as one of its main pillars. In addition to the bearded left-hander, these handsome fans see a South American representative in the neighboring country fighting against the bull spree of Europe that the last World Cups have turned into.

After all, only Messi and company managed to break through the Old Continent’s finalist block since Brazil was champion in 2002. It’s been a while.

Former player Rivaldo, champion in 2002, is one of those who took over the Alviceleste in Qatar. “We no longer have Brazil or Neymar in this Cup final, so I’ll stick with Argentina. No words for you, Messi, you deserved to be world champion before”, he commented.

“Aside from all this rivalry with Brazil, they deserve it, they’re doing well,” said veterinarian Natália Angelucci, 38.

“I wanted to support Morocco, but between Argentina and France, I’m going to support Argentina in the final, I’m against Europe”, commented André Luís Amaral de Oliveira, 46, a parliamentary advisor.

Broadcaster Magali Schunck, 37, echoes the Mercosur theory. “I support Argentina because I am also Latino and my preference will always be to support our South American neighbors.”

The block of fans who hate Argentina above all else and Maradona above all is a group almost moved by blind faith. For them, rooting for alviceleste is absurd and makes less sense than the soap opera “Travessia”.

These people grew up feeding rivalry in any sport, from soccer to bouldering (it’s Olympic, don’t ask why), always defending the commandment taught by the philosopher Galvão Bueno 40 years ago on television: “Winning is good, winning against Argentina is very best”.

“My fans are always against Argentina”, says Rafael Duarte, 40, an IT professional, who even looks strangely when the intrepid journalist asks if he is for or against the neighbors.

“After Brazil lost, I even stopped following a little”, he added, saying that he barely saw Argentina’s victory against Croatia. This anti-cheating group appears to be the largest, and most virulent, in the large online network in which everything fits.

Finally, the third group is not so easy to understand. If it were a TV series, it would be “Black Mirror”. “How can you hope for Messi to do well and for Argentina to go down the drain?”, a voice-over narrator would question.

Basically, the desire of the supporters of this cause is that every game ends 4-3 for Argentina’s opponents, who will score their three goals with Messi, obviously.

This group grew up seeing, or hearing about, the trickery of Maradona, the “old Argentine catimba” (another mantra of the philosopher GB), of always winning with a pinch of luck, perhaps cheating. For them, half of Argentina’s goals were handed over or with some other irregularity and would have been annulled if VAR had been admitted after the Second World War.

But… there’s Messi. This group is from Messi’s church. Messi doesn’t cheat, Messi doesn’t mess around, Messi doesn’t touch the ball. Messi does not cheat on his wife. Messi takes the kids to school. Messi is barely Argentine, he grew up in Spain. Messi is from Barcelona, ​​a team that every Brazilian has learned to admire (he is provisionally at Qatar Saint-Germain, but he will return, they believe).

And even when he says “que mirás, fool?” for a rival it’s a guti-guti. “Look how cute, he called his friend a fool”. Anyway, Messi is the darling of football. This group even wanted to make a “mutual extradition” treaty and exchange Messi for Neymar, without change. They prefer the good-natured spirit of the Argentine saying.

“It’s not possible with these Argentines, I don’t want them to win”, warns Danilo Silva, 33, an engineer who was even in Qatar, where he accompanied Brazil until the round of 16, against South Korea. Silva also recalls the recent cases of racism in the Libertadores, almost all of which involved Argentine fans.

But, if Argentina wins, “what makes me a little happy is that Messi will win, in the farewell to the Cup, I like him a lot”, melts the engineer. “I like his attitude. He’s Argentine… but he grew up in Spain”, he adds.

What is certain is that after this Sunday’s final, with France and Argentina fighting for their third world championship, one of these groups will celebrate, or two.